Robert De Niro: Five Films for Newcomers
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
On his birthday, I am willing to ignore the many films Robert De Niro has done for fun because his prime years are some of the best examples of acting you will ever find. Fans of New Hollywood often ask if you are either a De Niro or Al Pacino kind of person, and while the latter has some strong years under his belt as well, I’ll pick De Niro any day. There are so many performances I adore that haven’t even made this list, but that’s because I’m trying to stick with just five key films. It’s tough to boil down such a stellar filmography down to so few films, but I think these five works are absolute winners. If you haven’t seen a single De Niro film, you are in for a real treat. He specializes in method acting in his own specific way: with his signature scowl and glances, and a deeply rooted human quality found within even the coldest characters. Here are five films for newcomers of the films of Robert De Niro.
5. Once Upon a Time in America
Sure. De Niro has done many gangster and/or crime related films, but I absolutely must bring up the multifaceted work he delivers in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America (the Italian auteur’s final masterpiece). He plays Noodles: a kid of the streets that turns into a gangster full of regrets, sin, and uncertainty. This is a highly complicated character that needed equal doses of tenderness, empathy, and unforgivable danger. This is a man of evil that also is wondering what it’s all for, and where his entire life went, and De Niro brings such life to dead eyes. It’s difficult not to feel moved.
4. The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter’s Michael goes through such a transition: from soldier-to-be, awaiting the Vietnam War and hoping to be a national hero, to a prisoner of war gambling with his own life in order to save it; he winds up traumatized but having to face his own personal demons to try and rectify the little that he can. De Niro is impeccably textured here as an everyday blue collared worker with characteristics and personality that is destroyed inside and out by the horrors of combat, and I do think that his performance is as raw and commanding as the harrowing epic that houses it.
3. Taxi Driver
I tried to use as few Martin Scorsese films as possible (I apologize for the lack of Goodfellas here: I do think De Niro is near-perfect in this film as well, but I also consider this a brilliant supporting role, and I wanted to focus on the work where De Niro is indisputably the focal point of a film or is damn well close [see the next entry on the latter]). So many films have ripped off De Niro’s Travis Bickle (a misfit of society that goes full-on deranged whilst trying to do the right thing), but no one comes close to pulling off what the actor achieves with such a disturbed individual. As one of the great unreliable narrators in all of cinema, De Niro’s Bickle is such an alienating soul, and yet you can’t look away, as you wonder what he is going to do next.
2. The Godfather Part II
It’s a tough choice to make, but I’m going to make it. De Niro’s performance as a young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II is my favourite in any of the Godfather films, and that’s saying a lot when Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and so many others deliver some of the best work of their careers here. As strong as everyone else is in this stellar, stacked cast, there’s a certain mystery to De Niro’s Corleone that transfixes me every time I watch the film. In other crime films, De Niro may be a little more showy. Here, he draws you in, forcing you to look closer to inspect what he may be capable of pulling off next. As a rising don wishing to make his mark, De Niro’s Corleone paces around his prey and strikes exactly when he needs to. Seeing him in action is just so fascinating: there’s something about how De Niro’s Corleone disassembles a gun and disposes of its parts so calculatedly that lives rent free in my head (it’s a piece of acting that feels completely natural yet methodical, like a waltz between a character’s mind and a performer’s attention to detail).
1. Raging Bull
While it seems a little obvious, one absolutely has to start with Robert De Niro’s work as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull if they wish to see the actor at his best (I would argue that only his acting in The Godfather Part II is of the same flawless caliber). This is also an entire film based around De Niro’s performance, whereas The Godfather Part II is shared with Pacino (as Michael Corleone). De Niro’s LaMotta is instantly rough around the edges and difficult to root for, but there’s something about this character that makes us not want him to drill himself into the ground, either. The worse LaMotta’s jealousy and self destructive ways get, the heavier my heart feels. Of course, it’s easy to state that De Niro authentically feels like a professional boxer completely in control of every fight (even the ones he allows himself to get decimated in via his pugnacious ways), but what feels impossible to achieve are his organic responses to his own pitfalls, particularly beyond the points of no repair. Raging Bull is a heartbreaking film, and it takes De Niro’s untouchable performance as an all star that throws it all away to really drive how effective it can be. It is absolutely the first place to start if you are in need of catching up with the prime works of Robert De Niro.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.